Facilities

International Quilt Study Center

The International Quilt Study Center whose academic home is within the Textiles, Clothing & Design Department, encourages interdisciplinary study of all aspects of quiltmaking traditions and fosters preservation of this tradition through collection, conservation, and exhibition of quilts and related materials. Individuals who arrive to study will find available to them the worlds largest publicly-owned quilt collection. The Centers Ardis and Robert James Collection contains examples representing the history of quiltmaking in the United States and includes quilts dating from the late 1700s to the 1900s made in the United States, Europe and Japan. The Helen and Robert Cargo Collection of Contemporary African-American quilts is a premiere addition to the IQSC. For additional information visit the Center's web site.

The Robert Hillestad Gallery was designed for exhibition of textiles - from art to apparel, from the Occident to the Orient, from past to the present, and from emerging artists to the acclaimed. Textiles, Clothing & Design student juried and solo exhibitions are installed in the gallery throughout the academic year. The gallery is dedicated to Dr. Robert Hillestad, an internationally renowned fiber artist and Professor Emeritus of Textiles, Clothing and Design.

Exhibits are presented 1) to increase awareness of fiber arts through display of faculty, student and invited artists work, 2) to interpret costume and textile history through exhibition of department and invited collections, and 3) to service as an educational outreach vehicle to the citizens of the state, as well as visitors to Nebraska. Additional information may be accessed through the Gallery's web site.

Historic Textile and Costume Collection

The Historic Textile and Costume Collection includes over 3,500 textiles, garments, and accessories. The American and European costume holdings represent 19th and 20th century dress, with emphasis on 20th century American designers. The textile and ethnic dress collection includes items from India, China, Japan, the Middle East and Africa.

Student Design Facilities

Graduate students in design have access to the departments five computer-assisted looms, which range from 8 to 24 shafts and are supported by an array of weave structure design software, including industry grade Jacq CAD, for Jacquard design. Twenty conventional floor looms, from 4 to 12 shafts, complement the electronic looms. The textile print and dye area is equipped with a vacuum exposure table, a high volume steam chamber and dye facility. Computer-aided design programs from Lectra Systems and Computer Design Inc. provide our students the technology to create detailed fabric design, merchandising drawings, product development, catalog-quality textured-mapped imagery, virtual samples, communication, and fashion illustrations.